Dead Space: Dissolution
by LucarioZer0
Summary: Set between the events of Dead Space 1 and 2, this story takes place at the backwater world of Kreemar, where a repair team aboard the shuttle USG Defiant has been dispatched to assist a Merchant Marines ship in distress. But one of the Defiant's crew has been having dreams that warn of possible horrors to come... Rated M for language and violence
1. Chapter 1: Lost in Space

Chapter One:

Lost in Space

There was nothing but darkness all around me. Darkness and the shapes that moved in the shadows. I couldn't really see them, but I knew they were there. I could sense their malice, and I could hear them as they moved. There were scraping sounds, like blades being sharpened against each other. There were growls and shrieks, but their source was no where to be seen. I felt a chill pass through my body.

Where was I? What the hell was going on?

My eyes shifted to the left. I could feel something moving nearby. I could hear it. I felt my pulse quicken. I gulped as my breathing grew shallow and rapid. I didn't have to turn to know it was there. I could feel something looming behind me. I didn't want to move, didn't want to face whatever this thing was, but my body seemed to move of its own accord. I still couldn't see my own nose, let alone anything else in the darkness. I still had no idea what I was facing. What the fuck was going on? Where was the damn thing? _What _was the damn-?

I screamed in pain, but no sound came from my mouth. Nothing but silence. It felt as though someone had just stabbed two huge blades through my body; one through each shoulder. I struggled desperately, trying to pull away, to fight back, but the blades only seemed to sink in deeper. I felt my blood flowing out around the blades, running down my body to pool on the ground below. I could feel the warmth seeping out of my limbs as my body started to go into shock. It was then that I felt a pair of jaws clamp down over my neck. The teeth punctured my skin easily. More blood started to flow. My blood. The thought scared the shit out of me.

The jaws pulled back and tore a ragged chunk of flesh right out of me. Consciousness began to slip away as I lost my hold on what little life was left in my body. It was then that one thought rung out clearly through the agony. I knew in that moment that I was going to-

"En! Enneth dammit, wake up!"

My eyes snapped open. I was covered in cold sweat and my heart was pounding. My throat felt coarse. I blinked a few times and realised I was looking up at the familiar stern eyed face of a blonde woman. She was Mara Brosson, the woman in command of our current mission. I looked around. The other three members of our team were all starring at me as though concerned. I looked back to Mara, confused. "Wh-what's going on?"

From his seat opposite mine our team's communications specialist, Donio Lezal, gave a hoarse laugh. "Well, you were just shoutin' your head off like you were being murdered. Something about 'slasher'. I gotta say, fear isn't particularly inspiring coming from one of our security guys."

Mara placed a hand on her hip and gave Donio a hard look. "Stow it Lezal. We don't need you being a smartass right now."

Turning back to me she asked, "So what's wrong with you En?"

I stood up and shook my head, trying to clear away the images from what had apparently been a nightmare. "Nothing. Just a bad dream, that's all."

Besides me and Mara there was one other security officer on our mission named Wardy Lesanch. He was the one at the helm of our shuttle-the USG Defiant. As he turned away from me and back to the instrument panel he said, "That sound like a dream from hell if you ask me. But, on a slightly sunnier note, we're gonna be at Kreemar in just a few minutes."

Kreemar. It was a planet in the Proxima Centauri system, and it was known for being generally unremarkable. It was devoid of live and was even considered to be unworthy of a visit from a Planet Cracker. Unfortunately, that useless hunk of rock was where our mission was taking us. EarthGov had received a distress signal from the planet, or more precisely from a ship that was now orbiting the planet. The ship belonged to the Merchant Marines and flew under the name 'Solar Spirit'. According to the distress signal, the Spirit had suffered some sort of failure in their Shock Point drive that had resulted in them coming out of Shock Space with only enough power to secure their orbit around Kreemar. They were effectively stranded, mainly because they didn't have the necessary parts to repair their ship.

It was also suspected that the Spirit's long range communications were down, as nothing further had been heard from the ship in the two days since the original signal was sent out. So there we were on our way out to some back water planet with a cargo hold full of parts to repair the Solar Spirit. Along with the parts we had brought two repair specialists. The first was Donio. The other was an expert engineer: Juster Barnand.

Though he was highly qualified-and likely necessary to the mission-I couldn't say I liked the guy in any way. He seemed to think he was better than the rest of us. He spent the whole trip sitting away from the rest of the team, and the few times he did speak it was with an unmistakable air of condescension. But then, that was pretty normal for a Unitologist.

Now though he was looking at me as though I were suddenly worth his time. "This dream of yours…what was it, exactly?"

I quirked a brow. "Why the interest?"

He smiled and leaned in a bit. "I ask because I've often believed that dreams-especially the negative ones-may be messages or warnings from a higher power."

I rolled my eyes and snorted derisively. "Right. Well, I'm pretty sure they're just dreams, so I don't think I'll be sharing."

Juster was about to reply-venomously judging from his expression-when Wardy said, "Y'all best brace yourselves. We're 'bout to de-shock."

I returned to my seat and Mara took the one beside me. She leaned in close and quietly asked, "Are you sure you're alright En? This isn't the first time you've had a dream like that recently."

I smirked, trying to portray confidence beyond what I was feeling about the subject. "You must be worried to be showing concern for me in front of other people."

She pulled back from me with a haughty expression on her face. "Well then, just forget I asked."

I rolled my eyes and took one of her hands in one of mine. "Mara, I'm fine. Really. Look, if it makes you feel better, after this mission I'll try to get some time off and…I don't know…get some kind of psyche evaluation. Okay?"

She pulled her hand out of mine but her eyes softened a bit. "Okay."

Donio cleared his throat to get our attention. "If you two are done with that little display it looks like we've arrived."

Looking out the forward viewport we could see he was right, the pulsing silvery waves of Shock Space fading back into normal space. Ahead was Kreemar and in a high orbit around it was the Solar Spirit.

Donio snickered. "Hey, could someone explain to me why the hell these military types insist on making their ships look so damn phallic?"

I rolled my eyes. Donio and I had worked together before, and I liked him well enough, but he could be a little high strung and was tactless at times.

Mara shot him a dirt look. "Now's really not the time Lezal."

Donio held up his hands in plaintive gesture. "Hey, it's a legitimate-"

Wardy turned in his seat and cut Donio off. "Mara's right Doni. Now shut your trap and git up here, I need you to try to get in touch with the Spirit."

Donio stood and shook his head with a sigh. "Touchy, touchy. Fine. Time to get to work then."

I watched as he trudged up to the front of the shuttle where he started flipping switches. After a moment he started speaking into the comm, trying to hail the Solar Spirit. "Merchant Marines ship Solar Spirit, this is the USG Defiant. Please respond. We're carrying a payload of replacement parts in response to your distress signal. Come in Solar Spirit. Please acknowledge."

He tried for another minute or two with out any reply as we approached the ship. Growing impatient Mara stood and walked up behind him. "What's going on Lezal? Why aren't they responding?"

Donio shook his head. "Damned if I know. Maybe their short range communications are down. All I know is, I don't like it. They should have responded by now unless there was some problem."

I stood and walked over to join them. "Let's not get too jumpy. They're probably just trying to verify our identity."

Donio looked back at me. "And what if it's something more serious? Like what if-"

I held up a hand to stop him. "Calm down. Just give them a minute."

Donio looked to Mara, and she nodded her agreement with my suggestion. Donio sighed. "Fine. But I still don't like it. And I reserve the right to say 'I told you so'. Just don't blame me if something goes horribly wrong."

Wardy chuckled. "Doni, you really gotta learn to chill out and not be so dang jittery all the time. It ain't good for you. It's like my momma used to tell me-"

"Oh would you please can all the southernisms and farm stories? It's getting really damn old Wardy." Donio snapped at him.

"Hey now, if y'all got a problem with how I talk, just ask nice like and I'll tone it down. No need to go jumpin' down my-"

Wardy was interrupted as the comm crackled and a male voice came over. "USG Defiant, this is the Solar Spirit. Glad to see EarthGov sent someone out here for us."

Mara sighed. "Finally."

Mara leaned past Donio and activated out end of the comm. "Solar Spirt, this is the Defiant. Do you have an approach vector for us?"

"Affirmative Defiant. Sending you the information now. You're cleared to dock in Bay 2."

Mara nodded. "Good. Wardy, take us in."

Wardy did as ordered, and following the prescribed course the shuttle approached the starboard side of the Spirit. As we neared it became clear just how much damage the ship had sustained. It appeared as though a significant portion of her drive and engineering sections had been torn open from the inside by an explosion, exposing them to the cold vacuum of space.

I let out a whistle. "Damn. Looks like you guys are gonna have your work cut out for you. I can't help but wonder how many crewmen they lost."

Donio grumbled. "That's a bright outlook. Let's just get this done quick guys. I've still got a bad feeling about this."

I clapped him on the shoulder. "You've got a bad feeling about a lot of things. It'll be fine."

"I hope you're right En. I really do."

The Defiant shuddered slightly as she was guided into the Spirit's hangar, docking beside one of the larger ship's own shuttles. The Defiant jerked one last time as it came to a stop and was locked into position. A moment later the port side exit opened and the ramp extended, giving us access to the Spirit's flight deck.

One by one we got up and filed out of the Defiant. I was the second one out behind Mara, followed by Donio, Juster, and finally Wardy. There were two men waiting for us as we stepped out onto the flight deck. One wore white armour and a serious expression; clearly a soldier or member of ship board security.

The other one was an older man in a pristine officer's uniform with greying hair and a matching mustache. He smiled tightly and saluted as we approached. "I'm Captain Ruce Bennes. Welcome aboard the Solar Spirit."


	2. Chapter 2: Untimely Discovery

Chapter Two:

Untimely Discovery

Mara returned the Captain's salute. "I'm Mara Brosson. I'm the CO of this mission."

She pointed first to me, then to Wardy. "These two are the security officers under my command—Corporals Enneth Mason and Wardy Lesanch. The other two are Donio Lezal and Juster Barnand. They're here to assist with repairs."

Captain Bennes nodded. "That's good. We lost more than a few good techs in the accident. I'm sure they'll go a long way toward getting us out of here. But where are my manners? I've yet to introduce you to the surly gentleman standing beside me. This is Lieutenant Johnny River. I command the ship and her crew, but he's the one in charge of the on board contingent of marines."

The Lieutenant gave a curt nod. "Basically, his guys do the flying, and mine do the dying."

Donio leaned in close to me and whispered, "I take back anything I've ever said about Mara. This guy makes her look like a bright ray of sunshine."

Inappropriate though it may have been, I had to admit Donio had a point. I knew that behind closed doors Mara could be perfectly kind and gentle, but under most circumstances she could be pretty gruff. I hadn't met anyone before that I could call more serious than Mara in the eight years that I had known her, but this Lieutenant had broken that streak with a single dark, humourless remark.

Captain Bennes shook his head. "You'll have to forgive the Lieutenant. Years of military service have made him a bit rough around the edges. But that's beside the point. How soon can you begin unloading the replacement parts?"

"As soon as we can get some help from your crew Captain. We can't handle the unloading ourselves." Mara replied. "I'd also like to ask that you brief me on what happened here."

Bennes nodded. "Very well, I'll get some of my men to work on the cargo. The Lieutenant and I will be waiting at the lift down that way."

He pointed in the direction of the lift and added, "Please join us when you're ready Miss Brosson."

He then gestured to River and the two of them set off across the Flight Deck, leaving us alone. Mara turned to us once they were out of earshot. "Alright, Wardy, I want you, Donio, and Juster to remain here during the offloading process. Once it's complete I want you to assess the damage and report to me. En, I want you to accompany me."

She motioned for us to wait for a moment then returned up the ramp into the Defiant. When she came back a moment later she was holding two pistols and had a third at her belt. "There's something I don't trust about those two. I'm probably being paranoid, but better safe than sorry."

She handed one of the weapons to me and the other to Wardy. "Stay on your toes, but try not to get jumpy. Alright everybody, synch up your RIGs. Let's get this done as quick as we can. En, let's go."

I followed after her as she set off down the walkway that the Captain and Lieutenant had taken. As we walked I took note of anything that caught my eye. One of the reasons I was good at my job was that I was observant. I would often notice things that others would overlook or think of as trivial. That was exactly what I was doing. I was looking for anything that seemed suspicious, or out of the ordinary. As it was I had already thought of a few questions to ask Captain Bennes.

After a moment or two we met up with the Captain and Lieutenant River, the two of them waiting for us. The Captain quirked a brow when he noticed we were armed, but made no mention of it, instead motioning for us to enter the lift behind him. The four of us squeezed in and Bennes set it on a path to the bridge. He then began to explain what had happened aboard the ship. "In short Miss Brosson, I don't really know what happened. None of us do. We were traveling through Shock Space when an explosion rocked the ship. Something had gone horribly wrong in the drive section. Whatever happened killed most of the engineering crew that were in the vicinity. Their bodies—or what we could recover of them—are on our Medical Deck now. That explosion tore us out of Shock Space, crippling our engines. We had just enough mobility and power to establish an orbit around Kreemar. We sent out our distress signal, and we've been waiting ever since."

The lift came to a stop and the doors slid open. The four of us stepped out and began walking toward the bridge, passing a number of crew members along the way. As we walked Bennes continued to relay information. "Unfortunately our long range transmitters were damaged, so we couldn't get out more than out initial signal. All we've been able to do is float here, and hope. Any questions?"

Mara shook her head. "You seem to have summed up the situation very well."

I cleared my throat. "Actually I have a few questions. Three, to be exact."

Bennes looked me over briefly then said, "Very well Corporal. What would you like to know?"

"Well first, I've noticed that many of the crew members' RIGs are showing less than optimal health, some even yellow. Is the ship running low on medical supplies?"

Bennes nodded. "Our supplies of Medical Gel were greatly depleted after the accident. Actually, they were low before the accident. Now it's worse. We have men who are dying on our Medical Deck, and we can barely keep them stable. We're heavily rationing our medical supplies."

I nodded. "Sensible. Speaking of the accident, are you sure it was an accident? I've seen drive explosions before. I used to work security for a lot of salvage ops. Drive explosions—especially emanating from the Shock Point Drive—tend to destroy most of the ship in the process. The damage I saw when we docked looked more like it was _intended _to cripple the ship."

The Captain stopped and gave me a hard look. "Are you suggesting sabotage?"

"Yes," I answered, "It seems like a possibility."

Bennes scowled. "I have worked with the entire crew of this ship for the better part of five years. Not one of them would do such a thing."

"Fine. But what about the Marines on board?" I asked.

Lieutenant River growled. "Not a chance in hell. They know full well I would kill them myself if they even considered a stunt like that."

I sighed in defeat. "Fine."

I felt they weren't realistically approaching the situation, but I let the topic drop as we started down the corridor again.

Several seconds of silence passed before the Captain spoke again. "You said you had three questions. What was the third?"

I hesitated then said, "Well, when we docked I noticed something that may or may not be important. In the shuttle bay, there were enough places for three shuttles to dock. One spot was taken by one of the Spirit's shuttles. Then the Defiant took another. So then, was there ever another shuttle in that bay? And if so, where is it?"

Benes didn't answer immediately, but after a moment said, "You're a very observant man, Corporal. Yes, there was another shuttle. As for where it is…it's down on Kreemar."

Mara scowled. "Why? What would be worth going down to the planet for?"

"A few hours before your arrival Miss Brosson, we picked up a strange signal from the planet's surface. I ordered a team down to the surface to investigate the source."

I shook my head. "That makes no sense. Kreemar is uninhabited, isn't it?"

Bennes nodded. "Yes it is. From what we can tell, it's something similar to an old S.C.A.F. signal."

But what would the Sovereign Colonies have been doing on Kreemar? And how could there still be anyone there?" Mara asked.

"I don't know. That's why I had a team go down to investigate. We should actually be hearing from them soon." The Captain stopped in front of a pair of doors. "We've reached the bridge."

Bennes punched a code into a keypad on the wall and the doors slid open with a hydraulic hiss. We all walked trough, the doors closing behind us. It was immediately clear that the accident had taken a toll on more that just the engineering crew. Looking around the room I could see a number of the consoles were unattended, some looking as though they hadn't been used in days.

Captain Bennes turned to face us and spread his arms. "Welcome to the bridge. We've managed to keep most everything up and running thanks to our remaining bridge crew."

Mara nodded. "It's pretty impressive that you've managed to maintain the ship so well after the damage. You must've led the crew well through the crisis."

"Thank you, but I don't relish what comes next. Once we're back in colonized space I'll be tasked with informing the families of those who died. Losing someone under your command is difficult, but I've always felt it pales in comparison to seeing the heartbreak of those who loved—"

Bennes was cut off by his RIG Link activating, the hologram screen appearing about a foot in front of him. For a few seconds it only showed static then cleared to show a soldier's helmet. The soldier spoke, his voice slightly mechanized by his helmet's filters. "Captain, recon team reporting in. As was suspected, the source of the signal was aboard an old S.C.A.F. cruiser. Looks like it crashed here a long time ago. No sign of the crew."

Bennes nodded. "Excellent work. The ship still has power then yes? Have you managed to salvage any data from it?"

The soldier hesitated. "Actually sir, the ship seems to have only enough power to relay the signal. And…the ship itself isn't generating the signal sir."

All of us were confused by that information. It made no sense.

"What is the signal coming from then?" Bennes asked.

Again the soldier hesitated. "It…well we traced the signal sir. It seemed to be coming from the cargo hold. So we followed it to the source and we found…"

He trailed off, prompting the Captain to ask, "Found what?"

"Well…uh…assuming that it is what we think it is…then…we found a Marker."


End file.
